How an Ornithologist with a Microphone Made History

BirdNote Daily

With today’s mobile apps and sound libraries, it’s never been easier to listen to birds on demand. But that wasn’t always the case – not until the 1920s when ornithologist Arthur Allen teamed up with an ambitious film production crew to record the dawn performance of a Song Sparrow. That first recording, featured in this episode, is now one of millions in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Macaulay Library.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org.

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2026-05-18 1 min

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